Virus writer plays on promise of dodgy Beckham pictures

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 13 Oct 2004 at 13:05

Virus writers are playing on the topical subject of David Beckham's activities off the pitch by directing victims to a website to download purportedly steamy pics of Beckham and a Spanish hooker.

What the voyeuristic victims actually get though is a pristine copy of the HackArmy Trojan that opens up their PCs to remote control by attackers.

'Hackers and virus writers will try all kinds of tricks to entice people into downloading their malicious code - now they are trying to suggest that England's football captain David Beckham has been playing away from home,' said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. 'The public's appetite for salacious gossip about the private life of the Beckhams might lead some into an unpleasant computer infection.'

Typically, messages such as the following are being posted around newsgroups in order to garner an audience for the images: 'David Beckham of Real Madrid was caught by photographers with his pants down. Early in the morning he was photographed with a Spanish hooker in a rather compromising position. Photos yet to hit the newspapers have been released here.'